Silent as a cat, Drucilla made her way into the hotel. She moved swiftly from doorway to shadow, concealing herself in the event that someone entered the room.
She finally made it to the stairway and ran up the stairs as quickly as she could. She could hear her dark kitten in the room with the child.
She waited.
* * * * *
Alexander hadn't expected Willie to need to be entertained for at least a year, so he hadn't bought any toys for him. Now he found himself with a two to three year old child who had the memories of a master vampire.
"C'mon pop, let's us watch a bit of the telly." Willie said in his father's accent.
Alexander disagreed with letting Willie watch television just because there was nothing else to do so he said, "We can watch the TV later when something is on worth watching. Right now, let's look around and see if we can find something else to do." He hoped that Willie wouldn't throw a fit.
Willie just gave a shrug and started looking through dresser drawers while Alexander began looking through the pockets of his luggage.
After a few minutes of searching, Willie found a pencil and some paper. He said, "Hey pop, how's bout I draw you something?"
Alexander stopped his searching and said, "I think I would really like that Willie."
Willie laid down on the bed and began to draw.
Alexander watched him for a few minutes and finally said, "I'll be back in a second." And went into the bathroom.
* * * * *
She heard her dark kitten say that he would be right back and the bathroom door close.
Drucilla tried the room's door and found it unlocked. She went in quietly and grabbed the child from the bed where he was drawing.
She ran from the room at full speed and down the stairs, carrying the child close to her chest.
"Dru?" the child said, confused.
"Shush, you're granMummy's here to take you home." she said as she ran for the door.
Willie was confused. Drucilla had taken him from his room and was carrying him away. He began to get frightened as he realized that she meant to take him from his Poppa and his Daddy and the Great Pouf.
He started to struggle as they exited the hotel into the street.
As she started running down the sidewalk she said, "Don't worry baby, I'm going to take you home, you and Miss Edith can have tea parties and play dress up."
Willie stopped struggling and began to cry.
* * * * *
Alexander came out of the bathroom and noticed that the door was standing open. Thinking that Willie had wandered off, he was about to go looking for him when he caught an old, almost forgotten scent.
[Drucilla!] He thought as he ran to Angel's room. He knocked furiously on Angel's door as he screamed, "Drucilla's here and she's taken Willie!"
Before Angel could answer the door Alexander was already on the stairs. He ran to the lobby and took a deep inhale to track her. As he headed for the door, Angel ran down the stairs and joined him.
They ran out into the street and once again Alexander scented for his prey. A moment later they were running down the sidewalk after Drucilla and Willie.
* * * * *
Willie thought to himself, [Dru means ta dress me up and treat me like one of her bloody dolls. I've gotta stop her.]
He shifted his weight in Dru's arms and moved into position. He had never changed into his demon form on purpose before, so he had to push himself to be able to do it. He tried and tried. Sweating and tired he gave a desperate blast of effort. He could feel it starting, he pushed some more and he could feel his horns extending, he could feel his gills and dorsal fin come into being, his fingers and toes became webbed and finally what he was waiting for... his fangs began to drop.
Carefully he moved to Drucilla's neck and bit in. He drew her blood with full force, as if he'd never eaten before. She felt the penetration of her neck and started to try and pull him off. In response he locked his arms and legs around her body and drew the blood with even more force.
* * * * *
Alexander and Angel came upon an eerie sight. Willie was sitting on the ground with Drucilla's head cradled in his lap, running his fingers through her hair. Angel walked forward with a stake in his hand, his arm drawn back into position when Alexander threw himself between Angel and Dru, protecting her.
"What are you doing? She tried to take your son away from you." Angel asked, disbelieving.
"Look at Willie, he cares for her. And technically she is kind of his grandmother..." Alexander trailed off as he took his son into his arms.
"She scared me, so I drained her, but I didn't take too much. Just wanted to stop her." Willie said sounding afraid, while being hugged by his father.
"Don't worry Willie, you didn't do anything wrong. She tried to take you from me and you stopped her. You did just right." Alexander said reassuringly.
Willie responded by giving his Poppa a big hug right back.
"What do you want to do about Dru?" Angel asked, smiling at the father and son.
"I don't know, I guess we take her back to the hotel. As long as we keep Willie safe from her... We really should take care of her." Alexander said, with little enthusiasm.
"Thanks Poppa, Dru is crazy as a bloody loon, but she is family." Willie said, tightening his hug again.
"That's right son," Alexander said soothingly and turned to look at Angel. "Family is important."
* * * * *
Angel carried Drucilla back to the hotel as Alexander walked with Willie, holding his hand.
"Poppa?" Willie asked quietly.
"Yes son?" Alexander responded.
"Am I Spike?" Willie asked in a tiny voice.
Alexander stopped walking and picked Willie up to hold him.
"No, you are William Jesse Harris, my son. You have some of your other father's memories, and his name was Spike." Alexander said seriously and continued after Angel.
"So that's why I remember Dru an the Great Pouf?" he asked shyly.
Alexander couldn't help but smile as he tried to catch up. "Yes, that's why. When he died, your father gave you his memories, so you could know him. But you are yourself and his memories are just one part of you." Alexander said as they went into the hotel.
"So what part of me isn't Spike?" Willie asked seriously.
Alexander had to think of a good answer for a moment, but glancing at Willie's face, he knew the answer. "Your nose. That is definitely not Spike's nose, you got your nose from me." he said with a smile.
Willie giggled as his Poppa kissed him on the end of his nose.
"But what have I got that's mine?" Willie asked, on the verge of tears. Alexander couldn't think of an answer so he headed quietly for the stairs.
Angel had carried Drucilla up to a room, so Alexander took Willie to their room and closed the door... and locked it.
Willie's picture was on the bed, Alexander carried Willie over to the bed and let him down. He picked up the picture and was surprised at how good it was. It wasn't finished, but there was enough likeness to tell that Willie had been drawing him.
"This is really good Willie. I don't think Spike could draw like this, and I know that I can't. So this is something that's not Spike, and not me. This is all you." Alexander said proudly.
"But I'm not finished with that." Willie said dubiously.
"I know, but I can tell that you were drawing me. Usually when a child draws someone, you can't tell what it is. You're very talented." Alexander said with a smile and pulled Willie in for a hug.
"I love you Poppa." Willie said, starting to sound sleepy.
"I love you too, son." Alexander said as he cleared off the bed in preparation for sleep.
* * * * *
"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me. I'm not going to live under the same roof with that psycho!" Cordelia screamed as she stomped away from Drucilla's room.
"She's family, and she's hurt. I'm just going to get her well enough to leave and let her go. It won't be that long." Angel said hopefully.
"Angel, I don't know what went on the past four years, but I hope I didn't get stupid. A stupid person would stay in a house with a psycho vampire. I'm not stupid, I'm leaving." Cordelia said shortly as she went to pack.
"Come on Cordelia, you can stay with Xander and the baby. They aren't leaving." He said, still trying to coax her.
"Xander never did have sense enough to stay away from trouble. Anyway, what part of 'no' don't you understand? I'm leaving. I'll check in with you and when psycho is gone, I'll come back. If I get any of those vision thingies you were telling me about, I'll call you." Cordelia said as she zipped up her suitcase.
Angel followed as she began to pack up her bathroom supplies. "What if I fixed your door so there's no way she could possibly get in. Like a big wooden bar across it?" he asked with hope.
"That sounds like a great idea... you can install that while I'm at the hotel waiting for the psycho to leave." She said, clasping her make-up bag.
She thrust her suitcase at Angel for him to carry as she walked by.
Quickly she made her way down the stairs and stopped at the check-in desk to call for a cab.
Angel just sat her suitcase beside her and left her to make her call.
* * * * *
Alexander heard a knock on the door of his room. He went to answer it, and caught the scent of Angel on the other side.
He unlocked the door and said in a whisper, "Come in." As he opened the door.
"How is he doing?" Angel asked with concern.
"He's fine so far, he asked about Spike." Alexander said and gestured for Angel to take a seat.
"What did you tell him?" Angel asked quietly.
"The truth. I don't know how much he is capable of understanding, but I'll do my best to make sure he understands as much as he can." Alexander said, watching Willie sleep.
"He's so like Spike, and so different." Angel said in wonder.
"He's definitely his father's son. But that's one of the things I love about him. I think he's the best of Spike." Alexander said with a smile.
"I suppose he is. Are you okay with Drucilla being here?" Angel asked carefully.
"Well, I'd rather she wasn't, but she is family and I want Willie to get to know her as Grandma Dru, rather than remember her as Spike would." Alexander said with a shudder.
"I see your point, make some new memories to dispel the old ones." Angel said, glancing at Willie.
"He's growing so fast, I just want to make sure that he has some kind of childhood to remember. Do you think it will be safe to take him around Dru tomorrow?" Alexander asked with concern.
"Yes, she should be fine, I'm going to spend the night in her room until she wakes up so I can bring her some blood. By tomorrow she should be back to herself." Angel said absently, still watching Willie.
"While you're watching over her, I'm going to watch over Willie. I don't know if her taking him will cause him any nightmares, but I want to be here with him just in case. Plus I'm not leaving his side while she's in the hotel." Alexander finished with steel in his voice.
"I don't blame you. I wouldn't either in your position." Angel said with a smile.
Silence fell between them as they both sat and watched Willie sleeping.
* * * * *
With eyes closed and breathing even, Willie listened to his Poppa and the Great Pouf talking. He was happy to the depths of his soul to know that his Poppa was going to take him to Dru, so he could spend time with his grandma, and that his Poppa would watch over him while he slept.
[I got me the best Poppa there is.] He thought as he drifted off to sleep.